


Weapons of Mass Distortion

by Vipersweb (Rhianona)



Series: Hometown Comfort [2]
Category: Eureka, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-09
Updated: 2009-02-09
Packaged: 2017-10-10 12:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/99774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhianona/pseuds/Vipersweb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Carson's funeral, John brings Ronon and Radek back to Eureka for some relaxation before returning to Atlantis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weapons of Mass Distortion

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: [Insert witty comment here] SGA and Eureka don't belong to me.
> 
> Jack and John's friendship continues to provide gossip to the residents of Eureka.
> 
> Implied John/Ronon, Jack/John, past Jack/Allison

Two and a half months after John left Eureka, Jack received an email from him.

Carter -   
We're back. Might have disobeyed orders to do so, but it was worth it. On a tight leash here, but got my team, and have my home. Hard to complain, really.   
How's Eureka? GD explode yet? You'll have to keep me up to date on sports. It's kinda hard to keep up to date where I am.   
Radek &amp; Miko send their best. Radek asks if you can keep track of the only "real football" for him. I think he means soccer. Say hi to Zoe and Jo for us. Give S.A.R.A.H. my best as well.  
—Sheppard

Jack sat back in his chair, a bit surprised, but pleased to hear from John. He hadn't actually expected it, especially since weeks had passed without so much as a word.

"What's got you so cheerful?" Jo asked and interrupted his thoughts.

"Hm…? Oh. Got an email from Sheppard," Jack made the mistake of answering. He realized this at the sudden silence that just emanated from his deputy .

"Oh really…?" she drawled. He looked up to see her with a huge smile on her face, and her hands squared off on her hips.

"Oh, _come_ on, Jo!" Jack protested. "He's a friend."

"Well, it's real nice that your… friend sent you an email… finally," she retorted, the last bit in an undertone.

"He says 'hi,' by the way," he informed her, ignoring her insinuation. Jack just sighed. Nothing he could say could convince the populace of Eureka that he and Sheppard were just friends. He had long given up on it.

"Say anything else interesting?" she hinted.

"Not much. Just that he's back where he was before he came here on leave. And that he may have disobeyed doing that."

"Wow," Jo said, fake enthusiasm dripping from her voice. "Sounds exciting."

Jack just shook his head with a small smile, saved the email to respond to later, and got to work.

***

Of course, he should have realized that his deputy was incapable of keeping her mouth shut, especially with such juicy news as this. By the next morning, when Jack stopped in at Café Diem for his morning coffee, the whole of the place knew about the email John had sent to him.

"I'm so glad that Sheppard finally got in touch with you," Vincent gushed, looking so very earnest. "I'm sure it's a relief for you. You would think he could be a bit more considerate."

"His base doesn't have regular communications," Jack automatically explained Sheppard's inaccessibility. He could have hit himself as soon as the words left his mouth. He should have kept quiet; now it sounded as if he was making excuses for Sheppard.

Vincent nodded in understanding. "It must so tough, being so far apart."

"We're not dating!" Jack snapped out. Which, of course, brought everyone's attention to them - not that they were all eavesdropping to begin with. Jack was grateful that they had not - as of yet - stooped to asking Zoe about his personal life. He did not need to explain to his daughter that he and Sheppard were only friends, and not dating.

"Right, Sheriff. Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Can't be too careful!" Vincent chirped in a conspiratorial manner.

Jack sighed in frustration. "Goodbye, Vincent," he said, grabbing the two coffees for he and Jo, and left before he said something he would regret.

***

  
  
Shep -  
Your email sent everyone into a frenzy. Apparently, everyone's happy you finally emailed me.   
GD - somewhat miraculously - has not destroyed the planet… yet. It has come close, though. I'm a little worried about Henry. He seems much more quiet since Kim's death, which, makes sense. I know he loved her, very much. I'm just glad he returned.  
Zoe, despite my best efforts, has started dating. I wouldn't mind so much, if the first guy hadn't tried to kill me… She's dating some new guy, but at least he seems to fear my badge and gun.  
Even Jo is dating! Or, at least she's seeing some real genius, who seems to actually appreciate her and her love of guns and violence. Still hasn't managed to scare him off.   
Fargo has not yet managed to have a nervous breakdown - though that is despite himself, more than anything else. So, really? He's the same as he was.   
Sports - attached, find scores and relevant news to every bit of sports news I could find. Do you want games? I'm sure someone in Eureka could help me figure out how to send that to you. Sadly, haven't convinces Zoe or anyone else - except for S.A.R.A.H. to watch any games with me. And S.A.R.A.H. doesn't always get the fine nuances to watching a game. Oh! She say's hi back. Wants to know when you're returning. Apparently, my house misses you. I wish I knew how you did it!  
Say hi to Radek and Miko for me. I miss them and wish they were still here - their department had four different explosions, three cases of mysterious and hazardous substances, and five electrical fires since they left.   
—Carter

***

It took another three weeks before John responded to Jack's email. Jack wasn't above admitting to himself that he had worried for a bit about his friend. He continued to send the other man articles on various sports news, and even got some of the geeks at GD to help him save and transmit various games. And while Jo and Vincent would sometimes make teasing remarks about the lack of response from John, the rest of Eureka had more or less forgotten about it.

Of course, he also had other things to worry about. Henry had returned to Eureka a couple of weeks after Miko and Radek had returned to wherever they had been stationed before, but had continued to distance himself from everyone. It bothered Jack, because Henry was his best friend, and he didn't know what he would do if Henry left again - and this time, didn't return. He had been shocked when Henry had opted to work for GD, on the same project that had killed Kim. He just wished the other man would talk to him.

Then there was Allison. It had become more and more obvious that she had chosen Stark. It hurt his pride, and hurt his heart, but he also wasn't going to moon over what he couldn't have. He could support Allison, and if Stark hurt her again? Well, Jack wasn't the Sheriff for nothing.

Sheppard's second email gives him the bare outlines of daily life on his base. It seemed to be filled with just as many scientists as military, and John seemed very involved with the daily lives of at least some of the scientists. Jack personally liked that he could identify with a part of John's life, even if he didn't live in Eureka anymore. Or at least, not permanently. Jack didn't even mind the delay in responses. He was just glad to have someone he could unburden to, without having it spread around Eureka within minutes.

***

"Carter," Jack said, answering his phone. "Sheppard! Great to hear from you!" He sensed more than saw, Jo's sudden intense interest in his conversation. He did his best to ignore her. "Okay… well, I'll make sure Jo knows… and maybe your neighbor… when?… great! See you then."

"Well?" Jo asked pointedly, when Jack didn't immediately repeat his conversation with Sheppard back to her.

Jack just shook his head. "Sheppard's heading here for a few days. Just wanted to let us know, so if anyone called us about his house, we would know he was home."

"Right… I'm sure that's it. It's not because he wanted _you_ to know." Jo smirked knowingly.

"Look, Jo. It's _not_ like that. We're just friends. Honest." He could tell she didn't believe him - just like she hadn't believed him any of the multiple other times he had told her. He idly wondered how long it would take her to tell everyone else about John's upcoming visit. He gave it four hours top.

She surpassed his expectations, by announcing it during the town meeting that occurred an hour later. He should have known she would.

***

Sheppard set the gossips aflurry the moment he arrived back in Eureka. Still driving the black SUV he had had on his last trip, he had also brought with him someone in addition to Radek. And it was the addition of this person that caused everyone to stare, and send Jack some very sympathetic looks.

Of course, they had arrived during the height of business hours at Café Diem, when nearly everyone who didn't have to be somewhere else, at least stopped by. Sheppard slunk in, followed by the scurried pace of Radek, and the lean and wary lope of the new guy. "Hey, Vincent," John called out in greeting. Radek seemed quieter than normal, a little down as if something bothered him. Actually, Jack noted as he took a closer look at them both, they all seemed that way. He wondered what had happened that had brought them back to Eureka.

"Sheppard!" Vincent said. He looked sharply at the stranger. "Who's your friend?" he asked politely.

"This is Ronon. He's a civilian contractor at my base." Everyone scanned Ronon from head to toe, wondering just how he could be considered a civilian. He certainly didn't look like a civilian. "Carter. Good to see you," John said, moving towards where Jack sat. "You working tomorrow?"

"Not supposed to be, but then… this is Eureka," Jack responded, very conscious of the fact that everyone was avidly listening to them.

"Yeah," John snorted. "Well, if you're not. We're going to watch the game. You're invited."

"'kay," Jack nodded. That seemed to be all that John had wanted to say, as he waved a hand in goodbye to everyone else, and ushered Radek and Ronon out the door. He seemed to be bracing himself for something Jack didn't understand. But maybe, he recognized the interest the townspeople had in him and his arrival, and just wanted to leave before it started up.

Jack couldn't blame him. It almost made him wish he could leave… but his dinner had just arrived, and to leave now would cause even more gossip. He decided to just apply himself to his food, and then make his escape.

***

"Apparently, you're a cruel heartbreaker," Jack informed Sheppard the next day as he handed over the beer he had brought has his contribution to the night's event.

"Wha?" John asked, confused, before he obviously remembered the rumors that had circled around about the two of them. "Geez. They're still on that?" he complained.

"Oh, yeah," Jack confirmed. He was just glad he had someone else to share the pain with now.

"You need to get a girlfriend… or a boyfriend," Radek interjected from where he sat on the couch.

"One, not gay. Two? Kinda difficult to have a relationship with my job. Besides…" Jack trailed off. There was Allison. Allison, who had so clearly chosen Stark over him. "I do look. There was someone. But then…" he shrugged. "Typical Eureka stuff happened, and I haven't really tried again."

"You need vacation," Radek pronounced.

"Well, yeah… But I'm not taking off unless Zoe is as well. Maybe this summer."

Ronon walked into the room, settling his long limbs into one of the chairs. "Oh, hey. Ronon this is Jack. He's the sheriff here," John introduced carelessly, as he used the remote to find the channel.

"Hey," Ronon greeted with a nod of his head.

"Nice to meet you." Jack had realized pretty quickly who he was. While his emails were not epic in any nature, or full of a ton of information, John had mentioned his teammates on a regular basis, and Jack felt like he knew a lot about Ronon from it.

"Oh, good! Game's about to start," John crowed and settled back into the cushions, bowl of popcorn on his lap, and a beer in hand. Jack decided to take his cue, and settled down to watch the game.

***

It was much later that night, after the game has finished, that they told Jack why they're in Eureka. Apparently, one of their friends on their mission unexpectedly died on the base from faulty equipment. They had been pallbearers in his funeral. "Oh geez. That's terrible!" Jack sympathized. No wonder they all looked awful.

"Thanks. But, hey… we're only here for a little bit. Can't stay gone too long."

Jack nodded. "Figured that would be the case." And he settled back and listened to the three of them trade stories about their deceased friend - a modified wake, Jack thought. He felt just a bit honored that Sheppard and Radek trusted him enough to unburden themselves to him. He still wasn't sure about Ronon, but then he acted quite taciturn. Still, John had previously indicated in his emails, that that was just Ronon's nature.

He didn't make it back home that night. Instead, he camped out on John's sofa, which he found surprisingly comfortable.

John and his friends remained quietly in Eureka for another three days, before leaving. They mostly kept to themselves, and except for when Jack needed to work, he spent time with all of them. He quickly discovered that Ronon had a wicked sense of humor, even if he remained curt to the point of rudeness. He epitomized the strong, silent warrior-type, and yet, he had a gentleness to him that seemed unexpected. Jack liked spending time with all of them, as it also helped him to forget the various burdens he had on him at the moment.

Sometimes, he hated GD and Eureka. But he also knew he would be utterly miserable if he left now. He knew he wasn't going anywhere.

***

"Keep sending the games, if you don't mind," John said, the morning he was leaving.

"Sure. Let me know if you want tv shows as well. Or movies," Jack offered.

"You spoil us," Radek teased.

"I like that show with the blue box," Ronon suddenly said.

"Dr. Who?" John asked.

Ronon shrugged. "If that's the name of it."

"I'll see what I can do," Jack said. "Well… have a good trip. Stay safe." And this time, he was truly aware of how dangerous their posting was. Amazing what late night talks could disclose. "Look after each other. And let me know when you're going to be back this way."

"Will do. You do the same. Don't let Jo bully you," John instructed, before climbing into the SUV.

Jack smiled and waved as they drove off. Time for him to get back to work. Duty called, and not even the gossipmongers - who were now convinced that Ronon had stolen John from Jack - could keep him from it. That, was just life.  
_/fin_


End file.
